A known apparatus for cleaning billets of unlimited length is disclosed in USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 641505. This apparatus comprises a movable housing, which is positioned vertically and is connected with a drive mechanism. In the bottom of the movable housing there is provided a hole and in its top there is mounted a membrane which is connected with a mechanism for reciprocating motion. The latter is realized as a cam which is in touch with the membrane. The cam is connected with a centrifugal mechanism which is attached to the movable housing. Inside the movable housing there is formed a chamber filled with a working medium.
A drawback of this apparatus is that only the working medium around the billet to be cleaned takes part in the process of cleaning and, since there are not provided means for its continuous restoration, it is quickly saturated with oxides detached from the billet and its cleaning properties are impaired. Another drawback of this known apparatus is that, in order to restore its cleaning properties, it is necessary to stop the apparatus and to replace the working medium and this results in a reduction of the capacity of the process.
Another known apparatus for hydromechanical cleaning and polishing billets of unlimited length is disclosed in Bulgarian Inventor's Certificate No. 41700. This known apparatus comprises a movable housing connected with a drive mechanism. Inside the housing there is formed a chamber filled with a working medium. The movable housing is provided with a membrane connected with a mechanism for reciprocating motion mounted on a sliding joint in the chamber of the movable housing. The working medium is a mixture of balls and working fluid, and the movable housing is connected with a source for the working fluid.
A drawback of this apparatus is that the billet to be cleaned is disposed in the center of the chamber, where the peripheral velocity of the working bodies is the lowest and this results in a low capacity of the process. Another drawback is that, for the continuous restoration of the working surfaces of the balls, a complex kinematic scheme is necessary which effects a rotational and reciprocal motion, synchronized in sequence for different chambers, and this results in a reduction of the reliability of the apparatus.